More about Cairns

Today is the 5th day of the IPSF (International Pharmaceutical Student Federation) Congress, time flies and it's half way through the 10-day congress.

Welcome Party (1st night)
The welcome party was more like a bash, with finger food, dancing and beer.
HC Jackette Bungy (2nd night)
2 nights ago, we went to HC Jackette Bungy Site, a short walk away from James Cook University. It's located among the hills, and you're supposed to leap off from some platform, ( instead of a cliff or something)... They offered something called Minjin Jungle Swing too! And I did that instead of the Bungy! (I know I'm a coward...But seriously I was deprived of sleep, and not in a good condition for such games...) But I knew that I need to get my hands on something, if not I'll just regret after leaving the place. Thus I decided to go for the Minjin!

The Minjin was crazy and totally fantastic! We're hung in group of 3s horizontally and being transported up to a height of about 450meters (same height as the bungy platform!!!)... And I was supposed to pull a string in order for us to swing all the way down and up again like a pendullum. I was supposed to shout out " One...Two...Three...Pull..Go!" and fly... But I was so scared that when i pull...we were still up there... =S
Haha, thus I made a few more attempts and only got it after 3 times. And the swing was just insane.... Madness!!!!! When we were swung to the other end, we can even see the sea!!!
It was a fantastic night, with great barbequed beef, pasta and salad...
Pub Crawl (3rd night)
This was sort of like visiting many pubs in a roll, and we went around on the open air Double Deck... Everyone was insane. I was in the mood initially, but by the 4th one, I had enough of all the drinking and partying... Thus we went for icecream. Imagine, having an icecream, sitting beside the roads in a winter night, in a tube!
International night (4th night)
Delegates from each country are supposed to put up a performance. Our line-dance screwed up... and guess what, most countries went up just to offer wine/beer, or do some stupid rara dance... and we even saw a striptease show!!! (Reminder: This is a Pharmacy Congress, but it seemed that it has gone totally out-of control) I personally love the Japanese Dance item, it's was cute and at the same time hilarious...

Do you realise that everynight is party night, and beer is always here!?! I've given up! This is an awfully rara place for me to live in... People just drink , party and get wild. It's totally meaningless. I guess I've accustomed to the sanity and orderliness in Singapore.

For now, let me just do a summary about my findings:

About Cans
Apparently, Cairns is pronounced as "Cans", not "Cannes", it's located in Queensland, and it's near the Great Barrier Reef (Nemo's hometown).

What's nice about Cairns
- Freaking good weather. Temperature here is fabullous, streets are like aircon at night 20-23degrees Cel., and during the day, it's around 25-27degrees. It's just really comfortable temperature, and definitely lovely weather to jog in.
- Very quiet city, everything is slow and relaxed. Even gatherings and all is very unofficial and in an informal way.
- Beers are cheap, pubs mostly free-entry. Thus, pub-crawl is a local culture. And definitely they have good bands here.
- Lovely beaches, Bungy Jumping, White River Rafting, Farms...

I won't want to stay here for long because...
- During winter it rains too much, and very little sun.
- The streets are too quiet and dead especially after sunset. All you see are clubbing people and drunkards. Boring...
- Cinemas are expensive! Freaking 14 Aussie Dollars!
- Cannot beat Asian food...Chinese food. Food here always revolves around Beef, Potato, Sandwiches (I'm utterly sick of this!), raw salad... It's nice but not too much, and I'm missing RICE@!
- People here just love to drink and get out of control... Everynight is party party PARTY!!!! And drinking beer, and mOre BeeR...Different kinds of BeEr!!! (My 5th day here, 3 days I had beer..., I'm getting sick)
-Lastly, people here thinks we're Japs for goodness sake! I also realised that many Asians who came here to study tried to imitate the local culture and the way they speak... And seriously there're some fatal failures. Disgusting...

Bottomline: CULTURE SHOCK!

I want to discover Sydney soon! (I've got a feeling it's wilder there...shall keep my fingers crossed)... And be back in Sg/Msia soon and grab all the glorious food!!!

Sucks... Typing all these made me feel home-sick!

* Tinghui! How's Canberra doing? Bet you miss the sun in Singapore...Finally stop complaining about the heat?!